Tedx speaker and Ablr CEO John Samuel on seeing his family for the first time, and his fear of judgment

When John Samuel realized he was losing his vision, he started to hide from others and from himself. He knew what was happening, but he didn’t want to admit it. His journey from embarrassment and fear to accepting his disability as a superpower took over 20 years.

And then…John found an opportunity to see once again.

Transcript

John Samuel: I reached out to every Triangle business with a diversity inclusion program, not a single one responded to me. I started thinking about it, like with my education, my experience, and my privilege, if I can’t find a job, what are other people who are blind going to face?

Dana Kadwell: Welcome everyone to Hustle and Gather, a podcast by inspiring the everyday entrepreneur to take the leap. I’m Dana 

Courtney Hopper: and I’m Courtney. 

Dana: And we are two sisters who love business. On this show, we talk about the ups and downs to the hustle and the reward at the end of the journey. 

Courtney: And we know all the challenges that come with starting a business. Between operating our wedding venue, doing speaking and consulting, and starting our luxury wedding planning company, we wake up and hustle every day 

Dana: But we love what we do. And today we’re talking with John Samuel, founder and CEO of Ablr. Ablr is a digital accessibility and inclusion company that was founded on the key principle that all digital content, including websites, videos, applications, are accessible for everyone, no exception. John, welcome to Hustle and Gather. 

John: Well, thank you. I’m excited to be here. 

Dana: So, you know, my husband’s name is Samuel John. 

John: Oh, really? 

Dana: I didn’t even like to connect until I read it out loud. I was like, oh, that’s because I call him Samuel John all the time, but yeah. 

John: That’s funny, and so you know, these, these first names, right? I have three first, my name is John George Samuel. I got three first names in there, you can’t trust them.

Courtney: What alias is going by today, right? 

Dana: All right. Well, we’re so excited to have you know, you have such an incredible and inspiring story. And so why don’t you talk a little bit about your background and tell us how you how Ablr began. 

Full Episode Transcript

John Samuel is the CEO of Ablr, Tedx speaker, and host of the All Access video series.

Hustle and Gather is hosted by Courtney Hopper and Dana Kadwell, and is produced by Earfluence.  Courtney and Dana’s hustles include C&D Events, Hustle and Gather, and The Bradford Wedding Venue.

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